City Prepares To Remove Historic Monuments And Confederate Relics From Public Parks

While New Orleans is one of America's most historic cities, some of the history is on its way to being torn down and scrubbed from public view. Monuments and statues dedicated to Confederate civil war heroes are coming down from public places.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu has been working for years to have some of the monuments removed. He sees them as offensive and sending the wrong message.

For example, one statue coming down is the Liberty Monument which was erected to honor the Crescent City White League. This league attempted to overthrow New Orleans' biracial government in 1874. “The statue was put up to honor the killing of police officers by white supremacists. Of the four that we will move, this statue is perhaps the most blatant affront to the values that make America and New Orleans strong today,” said Landrieu.

The City Council, which now has a majority of black members, voted to remove the monuments in 2015. Landrieu says, “[Removing the statues is] about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile — and most importantly — choose a better future. We can remember these divisive chapters in our history in a museum or other facility where they can be put in context — and that's where these statues belong.”

Some other monuments slated for removal include the General Robert E. Lee Statue, General P.G.T. Beauregard and the Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis.

Some citizens are unhappy with the decision and have been holding vigils at the monuments. They believe the monuments are part of American history and should be left intact.

Workers taking down the monuments were wearing bullet-proof vests even though there have been no violent protests reported.

The mayor is pleased with the decision. “The monuments are an aberration. They're actually a denial of our history and they were done in a time when people who still controlled the Confederacy were in charge of this city and it only represents a four-year period in our 1,000-year march to where we are today,” he said.

Source: IJR
Photo: Twitter/ DCMonteverde